Corrugated fastener driving machine



Dec. 10, 1940.

P. HINGSTON 2,224,599 CORRUGATED FASTENER DRIVING MACHINE Filed July 2,1958 '4 Sheets-Sheet l as Q 00 N I NV EN TOR.

' BY Phi/ '0 H/hgsfon ATTORNEY.-

Dec. 10, 1940. P. HINGSTON CORRUGATED FASTENER DRIVING MACHINE FiledJuly 2, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTO Dec. 10, 1940. P. HINGSTON 2,224,599

CORRUGATED FASTENER DRIVING MACHINE Filed July 2, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTOR F0140 #Jnysfon Patented Dec. 10, 1940 UNITED STATES CORRUGATEDFASTENER DRIVING MACHINE.

Philip Hingston, Goldendale, Wash, assignor to Griplock Pacific Co.Inc., Seattle, Wash, a corporation of Washington Application July 2,1938, Serial No. 217,303

8 Claims.

This invention relates to built up wooden slabs and to machines forapplying corrugated fasteners to the same.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a built up wooden slabformed of two or more pieces of wood positioned in edge to edge relationand secured together by corrugated metal fasteners driven from the twoopposite sides of the slab, the fasteners on one side being positioneddirectly opposite the corresponding fasteners on the other side, thelength of the fasteners being less than one half of the thickness of theslab leaving the medial plane of the slab unobstructed whereby the slabmay be sawed in a medial plane to form two box ends.

Another primary object of this invention is to provide an automaticmachine of efiicient construction for feeding and supporting pieces ofwood which are to be secured together to form built up slabs and fordriving corrugated metal fasteners in said pieces of wood to secure saidpieces of wood together.

Another primary object of this invention is to provide an automaticmachine of this nature in which the corrugated fasteners are drivensimultaneously from opposite sides of the piece of wood in such a mannerthat the driving forces on the two opposite sides of the piece of woodare substantially balanced and substantially offset each other thusobviating the necessity for providing heavy and solid supporting meansfor the pieces of wood during the fastener driving operation.

Another object is to provide efficient means for guiding and positioningand holding the slabs as they are advanced by intermittent movements tothe driving heads, said guiding and positioning and holding means beingadjustable transversely of the machine to provide for the use of piecesof wood of different widths in building up the slabs.

Other and more specific objects of the invention will be apparent fromthe following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine constructed inaccordance with, this invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the same.

Fig. 4 is a detached plan View of the guiding positioning and holdingmeans for the slabs.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view with parts in elevationsubstantially on broken line 55 of Fig. 1, showing adjustable supportingmeans for the device shown in Fig. 4 and showing the work supportingtable.

Fig. 6 is a detached fragmentary view, partly in section and partly inplan, showing the hold over means for the pieces of wood. 5

Fig. 7 is a detached fragmentary sectional view taken substantially onbroken line 'l'| of Fig. 4 and showing the hold down means for thepieces of wood.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a built up wooden f0 slab constructed inaccordance with this invention.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view of said built up wooden slab showing twocorrugated fasteners embedded therein in directly opposite positions andKit showing by dotted lines the positions of two fastener driving heads.at the time of driving. 7

Fig. 10 illustrates a detached fragmentary modified construction of aquick return driving means used in the machine when high speed operationis desired.

Fig. 11 is a detached view in elevation of a ratchet wheel. i

Like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the severalviews.

The machine shown in the accompanying drawings is adapted for drivingcorrugated-fasteners into pieces of wood to secure said pieces togetherfor the purpose of forming slabs from which box ends may be made. Themachine illustrated uses two pieces of wood to form each slab but itwill be understood that the slabs may be made up of more than two piecesif desired. The machine takes a plurality of pieces of "wood of equalthickness and thick enough to formtwo 3- box ends and preferably planedon both sides and secures these pieces together by driving corrugatedfasteners into the pieces from opposite sides thereof." The pieces thussecured together are later re-sawed in the medial plane, along'the lineA-A shown in Fig. 9, to form two box ends of standard thickness each ofwhich willIhave one planed side and one rough side. The machine may beadjusted to conform to pieces'of wood of diiierent width. I

The machine comprises a frame l3 having herizontal supporting means l4,see Figs. 3 and 5, constituting a work table over which the materialpasses. Conveyor means in the nature of two link belts I5 movable onsprocket wheels 'l 'l 5' and having cross slats l6 advances the materialover the work supporting means l4 andthroughthe machine. A feed table Itis provided'atthe intake end of the machine. A dual feed hopper,designated generally by I2 is provided just in 355 of the partitionplate. The lowermost pieces of wood rest on the work supporting means l4and the conveyor slats l6 engage with and advance the two lowermostpieces as said slats pass under the piles of wood on the table. Some ofthese pieces of wood are indicated by dot and dash lines in Fig. 1.

The movement of the conveyor belts I5 is intermittent. This isaccomplished by theuse of a ratchet wheel 23 on a shaft 24 on which twolarge sprocket wheels I! at the discharge end of the machine aresecured. A pawl 25.0n a lever 26 engages ratchet wheel 23. A connectingrod 2'! connects lever 26 with a crank pin 28 on a disc 29. The disc 29is secured to a continuously driven shaft 39. The ratchet wheel 23,Figs. 2 and 11, has unequally spaced teeth as shown so as to advance thepiecesof wood .a greater distance between successive pieces and then twoshorter steps between the driving of successive staples in the samepiece. In the present instance I have shown three groups of teeth withthree teeth 65 in each group and longer spaces indicated by numeral 66between the respective groups; The spaces 66 are greater than thedistance between two adjacent teeth of a group but slightly less thanthedistance between the faces ofthe first and third teeth of any group. Forinstance the angular distance between the faces of adjacent teeth 65 inthe groups may be thirty two degrees, while the .angular distancebetween the face of the last tooth of one group and the face of thefirst tooth of the next adjacent group may be fifty six degrees. Withthis spacing of the teeth 65 if the stroke of the pawl 25 is more thanfifty six degrees and less than sixty four the last tooth of one groupand the first tooth of thenext adjacent group and will have asubstantial amount of overtravel and lost motion between the adjacentteeth of each group. The resultwill be thattheshaft 24 and conveyor l5-I6 will be advanced by intermittent movements in which two short stepsand one long step will take place alternately.

I The speed of operation of the machine may be increased by providing aquick return device for moving the pawl 25. One such quick return deviceis shown in Fig. 10. This device comprises a'lever 61 having one endmounted on a fixed pivot 68. The lever 61 has a longitudinal slot 69within which a slide block 10 is slidably mounted. The lever 61 extendsacross the face of the disc 29 and the slide block 10 is mounted onacrank pin H which is used instead of the crank pin 28' and is similarto the crank pin 28 except that 'it is at a less radial distance fromthe'center of the disc 29 than the crank pin 28. Thelower end portion ofthe lever arm 61 is pivotally connected with the connecting rod 21.

namely whilethe slide block is traversing the upper portion of its arc,will be made in less than one half of one complete revolution of thecrank pin ll while the stroke of the lever arm 6'! in the oppositedirection, namely while the slide block is traversing the lower portionof its arc, will require more than one half of one complete revolutionof the crank pin 'H to complete. By using the faster stroke to retractthe pawl mechanism and theslower stroke to advance the conveyormechanism I am able to provide for holding the pieces of wood [0 and IIunmovable just long enough to permit operation of two corrugatedfastener driving heads 58 and 59 hereinafter described. Also I am ableto advance the pieces. of wood I0 and II by a slower movement whichminimizes shock and jar incidental to stopping the moving conveyor andparts connected therewith and reduces the danger of over travel of thepieces of wood.

Hold down members 3|, urged downwardly by springs 32, Fig. 7, areprovided for holding the pieces of wood down on the table. Stud bolts 32are rigid with hold down members 3| and extend upwardly through suitableholes in cross bars 3| and the springs 32 are positioned on the studbolts 32' between the hold down members 3| and the cross bars 3|. Thecross bars 3| are secured to two spaced apart substantially parallelside guide members 33 and 34 which are fixedly but adjustably secured tothe frame and are adapted to be engaged by the sides of the pieces ofwood. Spring pressed hold over members 35 are provided in connectionwith the side guide 34. The assembly of members 3I35 is best shown inFig. 4. This assembly has cross bars 36, which extend crosswise of theside guides 33 and 34 and are secured by cap screws 31, Fig. 5, totransverse frame bars 38 having slots 39 through which the cap screws 31pass. This permits the entire assembly shown in Fig. 4, to be moved oradjusted transversely of the machine when the cap screws 3"! areloosened and provides an adjustment for correctly positioning the sideguides 33 and 34 for engagement by the outer edges of pieces of wood ofdifferent widths whose abuttingedges are positioned in line withcorrugated fastener driving heads. For instance, the slabs may be madeup of one piece 3%, inches wide and one piece 7% inches wide or they maybe made up of one piece 4 inches wide and one piece 6 inches wide. It isnecessary to adjust for these variations in width.

The upright side bars 22 which form the sides of the hopper are securedto the side guide members 33 and 34 sothat they are always adjustedtransversely with the side guide members. The partition plate 20 ispositioned in line with the fastener driving heads 58 and 59 and is notadjustable with theside guide members. The inclined guides 2| at therear of the hopper are secured to the partition plate 20. Preferably thefront plate IQ of the hopper is secured to the frame bywelding'orotherwise securing it to one of the cross bars 38. Thepartition plate 20 preferably has one edgethereof secured to the frontplate l9 and the other edge thereof secured to a cross bar I 3'.

The drive means, see Fig. 3, comprises a motor 40 having a pulley 4|connectedby a belt 42 with a sheave 43'on a shaft 44. A sprocket wheel45 on shaft 44 is connected by a link belt 46 with asprocket Wheel 41 ona shaft 48, see Fig. 3. Bevel gears 49, seeFig. 2, connect the shaft 48,with the shaft- 30, see Figs. 1 and 2. Two sprocket wheels 50 and 5| onthe shaft 48 are respec-( tively connected by link belts 52 and 53 withsprocket wheels 54 and 55 on an upper fastener driving head operatingshaft 56 and a lower fastener driving head operating shaft 51.

The corrugated fastener driving heads used in this machine and shown'inFigs. 1, 2 and 3, are of standard construction. One head which issuitable for this use is commercially known as the Morgan head. It isindicated in a general way in the drawings but is not herein shown ordescribed in detail. An upper driving head 58 is provided above the workand a lower driving head 59 is provided below the work. These twodriving heads drive corrugated fasteners simultaneously into the top andbottom of the same pieces of Wood. Movement of the upper driving head 53toward and away from the work is controlled by an upper cam means 69 onthe shaft 56. The fastener driving operation of this upper head 58 iscontrolled by an upper cam means 69 on this same shaft 55. Connectingrods 52 and 63 connect the respective upper cam means 60 and El (seeFigure 2) with the driving head 58. Movement of the lower driving head59 toward and away from the work is controlled by cam means 99' on theshaft 51. The fastener driving operation of this lower driving head iscontrolled by a lower cam means 5| on said shaft 51. Connecting rods 62and 63 connect the respective cam means 69 and BI with the lower drivinghead 59. The earns 69, 5!, 69, and 61 and the links 52, 63, 62 and 53'are of well known construction, being standard operating parts for thestandard corrugated fastener driving heads 59 and 59. The corrugatedfasteners 54 are shown in Figs. 8 and 9 and are of well known form.These fasteners may be supplied to the heads 58 and 59 from rolls, notshown, the fasteners being in strap or tape form as they are fed to theheads and the heads cutting them off and driving them.

The side guide member 33 is notched, as shown at 33 in Figs. 2 and 4, toprovide working clear- .ance for the upper fastener driving head 58 tomove down onto the work. Preferably a thin plate 55 of somewhat flexiblemetal, see Fig. 9, is provided in the supporting table 14 directly abovethe lower fastener driving head 59 and an opening 16 is provided in thisflexible plate through which the fasteners are driven. This flexibleplate 15 provides .a smooth surface for the pieces of wood to pass overbut is flexible enough so that the pieces of wood are in effectsupported by and between the two fastener driving heads during thefastener driving operation. The two fastener driving heads are adjustedand timed so that the lower head 59 engages with the flexible plate 15at substantially the same instant the upper head 58 engages with thepieces of wood. The plate 15 will yield slightly if necessary to permitthe two pieces of wood to be supported by and between the two drivingheads when the fasteners are driven, whereby the driving forces of thetwo heads are counterbalanced and the necessity for providing heavy andsolid work supporting frame means for the driving heads to react againstis obviated. Plate 15, being thin also allows lower driving head 59 toapproach very close to the work when driving.

In the operation of the machine the hopper i2 is supplied withsuperimposed pieces of wood of correct size. The conveyor slats l6successively remove the two lowermost pieces and advance them side byside toward the driving heads. The movement is intermittent and theproper dis- 'tance at each stroke. The heads are properly synchronizedso that both heads engage the work and drive a fastener each time thework is stopped. The two heads engage the work directly opposite eachother, as shown in Fig. 9, and drive simultaneously into opposite sidesof the wood pieces. The spacing of teeth on the ratchet wheel 23provides for a longer distance of movement between successive slabs thentwo shorter steps between successive fasteners in a slab then anotherlong stepto the next succeeding piece. This provides the proper sequenceof movement for driving three corrugated fasteners into each slab.

Driving the fasteners from two opposite sides of the slab simultaneouslysets. up opposing forces which substantially offset or balance eachother and this obviates the necessity of providing strong and heavymeans for supporting the slabs during the driving operation.

The hopper I2 is a divided hopper with the partition 29 in alignmentwith the heads 58 and 59. The hold over members 35 and guide rails 33and 35 provide means for holding the two pieces of wood together whilethey are being advanced and stapled. The sides of the hopper formed byparts 22 are carried by the guide rails 33 and 3d and are adjustablewith the assembly shown in Fig. 4.

The foregoing description and accompanying drawings clearly disclose apreferred embodiment of my invention but it will be understood that thisdisclosure is merely illustrative and that changes may be made which arewithin the spirit and scope of the following claims.

. I claim:

1. A machine of the class described comprising means for supporting inedge to edge relation pieces of wood which are to be secured together bycorrugated fasteners, two corrugated fastener driving heads positionedin alignment with each other on opposite sides of the pieces of wood;and means for simultaneously operating said two fastener driving headsto simultaneously drive corrugated fasteners into said pieces of woodfrom opposite sides thereof. 3 2. A machine of the class describedcomprising means for supporting in edge to edge relation pieces of woodwhich are to be secured together by corrugated fasteners, means foradvancing said pieces of wood by intermittent movements; two corrugatedfastener driving heads positioned in alignment with each other onopposite sides of the pieces of wood; and means for simultaneouslyoperating said two fastener driving heads to simultaneously drivecorrugated fasteners into said pieces of wood from opposite sidesthereof.

3. A machine of the class described comprisin-g means for supporting inedge to edge' relation pieces of wood which are to be secured togetherby corrugated fasteners; means for advancing said pieces of wood byintermittent movements; two corrugated fastener driving heads positionedin relatively substantially vertical alignment above and below the pathof travel of the pieces of wood respectively; and means forsimultaneously operating said two fastener driving heads tosimultaneously drive corrugated fasteners into said pieces of wood fromopposite sides thereof.

4. A machine of the class described comprising a frame; horizontalsupport means on said frame; conveyor means positioned to move pieces ofwood over said horizontal support means by positioning said pieces ofwood on said horizontal means; two corrugated fastener driving headspositioned in relatively substantially vertical alignment above andbelow the path of travel a frame; horizontal support means on saidframe; conveyor means positioned to move pieces of wood over port means;

pieces aligned with said fastener driving head, side guide memberspositioned to receive said pairs of Wood pieces from said uprightsupports, spring pressed hold over members positioned to means.

7. A machine of the class described comprising a frame; a horizontalsupport on said frame;

2,224,599 intermittent movements; means for guiding and conveyor meanspositioned to move pieces of wood over said horizontal spaced pieces ofwood between said upright supporting members and said partition plate.

8. A machine of the class described comprising a frame; a horizontalsupport on said frame;

PHILIP HTNGSTON.

